title: Health effects of coastal storms and flooding in urban areas: a review and vulnerability assessment.
abstract: Coastal storms can take a devastating toll on the public's health. Urban areas like New York City (NYC) may be particularly at risk, given their dense population, reliance on transportation, energy infrastructure that is vulnerable to flood damage, and high-rise residential housing, which may be hard-hit by power and utility outages. Climate change will exacerbate these risks in the coming decades. Sea levels are rising due to global warming, which will intensify storm surge. These projections make preparing for the health impacts of storms even more important. We conducted a broad review of the health impacts of US coastal storms to inform climate adaptation planning efforts, with a focus on outcomes relevant to NYC and urban coastal areas, and incorporated some lessons learned from recent experience with Superstorm Sandy. Based on the literature, indicators of health vulnerability were selected and mapped within NYC neighborhoods. Preparing for the broad range of anticipated effects of coastal storms and floods may help reduce the public health burden from these events.
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Environmental Surveillance and Policy, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, NY 10013, USA. klane1@health.nyc.gov
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lane
authors.forename: Kizzy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Charles-Guzman
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wheeler
authors.forename: Zaynah
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Abid
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Graber
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matte
mesh_terms: D057231:Climate Change; D055867:Cyclonic Storms; D004189:Disaster Planning; D055868:Floods; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D009519:New York City; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D011634:Public Health; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D014481:United States; D014504:Urban Health